


catch

by orphan_account



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 13:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20508038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “You’re absolutely right. Your papa will always catch you.”A Touken family oneshot.





	catch

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't planning on posting this here but since it got a pretty good reception on tumblr I changed my mind lol

Ken had known from the start that he would do anything for his child. From the moment a terrified Touka had told him those life-changing words of I’m pregnant, and despite being filled with trepidation Ken became positive that nothing else in the world would ever compare to what he already felt for his child. A child that moments earlier he had no idea existed but once he did he felt a sensation of unfathomable sense of duty that he couldn’t begin to put into words.

_His child._ _His_ and _Touka’s child_. He loved it more than he ever thought was possible.

Though over the moon with pride he also knew being a father he would do his best. He owed nothing less to his family.

After the war, when the newlyweds had time to relax and attempt to prepare for the life-changing event was when Ken began. He tore into books more than ever before – all of them about babies and child development. He watched numerous documentaries about child-rearing and became a frequent viewer of online videos of anything baby related.

So when Touka gave birth to their daughter, Ken hoped all of his research would pay off. He hoped that he was ready for this incredibly important job, more prestigious than being king had ever been.

As it turned out he wasn’t, but he had always been a fast learner. He even found himself honing his defensive combat skills along the way as his little girl grew.

For instance, by his third year of being a father, Ken was growing quite proficient at dodging things – not fist or quinques or even deadly kagune but things decidedly tinier and less sinister. Whether it was spoons when Ichika was an infant, or later when it was one of her dolls being hurled at the back of his head with all the force a small child could muster. Ken dared to say his dodging abilities had increased exponentially. 

What Ken had learned was not a good idea to dodge was his daughter herself. Sometimes, Ken would turn his back, only to hear a squeal and whirl around to discover 30 pounds of three-year-old-girl hurling herself at him. 

The first time Ken caught Ichika, it was a bungling near miss – he had been so frightened that he might drop her, though the giggling child didn’t seem to share his concern. After the sixth ambush, Ken had it down to a level science, very much so that he could flip the page in the book he was reading then hold out his arms and catch the toddler-rocket, then go back to reading from the same spot exactly where he had left off at.

And then the day came when Touka had mischievously decided that rocket-propelling herself at him looked fun and she wanted to give it a try too. Thank goodness she was a tiny woman. 

It seemed his training had paid off as he easily caught her and held her tightly much to her satisfaction. “You actually caught me?” She chuckled in disbelief, her smile captivating as ever. “I would have let me fall on my ass if I were you.” 

She moved to get down but he didn’t loosen his grip if anything he held her closer.

Part of him wanted to say that he’s had a lot of practice at this – of catching things, namely their torpedo-daughter. Instead, he decided to say in what he hopes is silky, alluring voice, words that leave him feeling incredibly slick for all of five milliseconds as he whispers them against her ear, “I’ll always be there to catch you when you fall, Touka-chan.”

Maybe he’s a bit disappointed at her reaction but he can’t say he’s surprised when his wife’s face contort in disgust and then he outright laughs when she pushes his face away from hers with the entire palm of her hand. “You say such embarrassing shit, Kaneki!” She whined as she wriggled to her feet. She was blushing though, he noticed as soon as he reluctantly places her on her feet. Blushing in that attractive full-bodied way that starts at her cheeks and goes all the way down beneath her clothes. 

“Why does it embarrass you? It’s true, you know.”

“It’s not embarrassing _for me_,“ she grabs him by the collar, "It’s embarrassing _for you_ because I just fucking know you probably got that cheesy line out of one of those dumb romance novels you like to pretend you read but I know you do, dork!” Even as she berated him for his newest taste in literature she was pulling him down and closing the distance to kiss him – a kiss that he was all too eager to deepen the moment her soft lips touch his. 

“No, that was all me,” he said, his lips ghosting over hers only to fretfully chase them when she pulls back from him, her eyes mischievous fully aware of the power she had over him.

“That’s sad and even more unfortunate for you,” she taunted, a smirk painting her lips. She pecked his cheek in an agonizingly chaste kiss.“I’m going to go take a shower. Be sure to think of more corny lines while I’m gone!” She was retreating before he could even complain.

_Why did she have to be such a tease sometimes? _

He thinks about joining her in the shower until he is reminded that there was a third member of the Kaneki family nearby.

He hadn’t seen or heard his small daughter scrambling to the top of the sofa but he had heard her playful shriek. Ken reacted just a fraction too late. Ichika launched herself at him with a screech – deceptively strong and tiny hands grasping tightly around his neck as the girl fought to gain a firm purchase. The force of the impact and his daughter’s struggles ended up making him teeter backward before setting him completely off balance.

The pair went crashing down to the floor, Ken landing with a painful oof while Ichika landed safely cushioned on her father’s back. 

"I got higher that time! I got higher!” Ichika squealed with joy, clapping her hands and bouncing on his defeated father’s back.

The One-Eyed King defeated by a leaping toddler. Oh, how the old Doves would taunt him now if only they could see.

“Why do you do that, Ichika-chan?” he asked his daughter, face down on the carpet, in defeat with his earlier amorous mood completely deflated. Since showering with Touka was now a distant thought, he figured now would be a good time to ask why his daughter why she was always leaping and bounding about.

What a better time to ask then while your toddler was using your spine as a trampoline?

“I’m trying to fly like mama,” the girl explained. “She’s a fairy, papa. I want to be a fairy too.” When she crawls off his back he is able to sit up and lean back on his heels. He looks at his daughter with confusion.

“What? A fairy?” he repeats slowly before connecting the dots and realizing she’s referring to Touka’s ukaku. “I see. Well, let’s wait until your fairy wings grow in before you try to fly away and leave us lonely, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt before then.” He reached out and tugged at a strand of her hair playfully, causing her to giggle as she grabbed his large hand.

She squeezed his wrist and then told him with all the surety in the world, “But I won’t get hurt because you always catch me.” She beamed at him, both of her dimples popping at the corners of her mouth. “Right, papa?” Her eyes are filled with nothing but love and trust and absolute faith in her papa.

He doubts there has ever been a child as perfect as her.

He had known long before Ichika was born that he would do anything for her, and now he realizes that everything extends to living in fear of his eye being taken out by a Barbie stiletto and worrying if one of these days she was going to manage to pop his back out of alignment when she pounced on him in her fairy training exercises.

The cons seemed like a small price to pay to have his daughter. 

An eye could heal and his bones could realign. But an Ichika? An Ichika, much like a Touka, was impossible to ever replace.

“You’re absolutely right. Your papa will always catch you.”

He looked forward to catching her more in the future. Touka too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Another (possibly final story, - at least for a while) is coming up in a few days. It's smut, so look forward to that, I guess.


End file.
